The proschoros and beyond: A study of Corinthian artistic influence in Southern Italy in the seventh and sixth centuries B.

In the Archaic period, Syracuse was Corinth's only colony in the west, and this fact belies the importance of Corinthian art in Southern Italy and Sicily. Bronzes, ivories, and especially vases were imported from Corinth to Italy and Sicily beginning in the Middle Geometric period, and continuing into the Protocorinthian and Corinthian, in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C.;Corinthian artists were influential in shaping the development of Archaic art; not only that in Greece, but also in her western colonies. In Italy, elements of Corinthian art were combined with native traditions to create such hybrids as Etrusco-Corinthian pottery. There has already been much research on the Etrusco-Corinthian style, which is perhaps easier to define because it encompasses a distinct culture and artistic taste.;Southern Italy did not have one specific culture, and was widely exposed to cultural stimuli both from the Etruscans in the northwest and the Greeks from the east (mainland Greece, the Cyclades, and Ionia). However, a pattern of Corinthian influence can be traced through the sporadic finds in the zone of influence, or proschoros, of the Greek colonies. These objects, which include bronze reliefs, vessels, and terracotta architectural reliefs, will be examined in the context of their environs, their assumed use or purpose, and their respective similarities and differences with other Corinthian art in Magna Graecia and Greece.;This dissertation focuses on three sites and their respective finds, in an attempt to interpret how the Corinthian style was adopted and adapted in different areas of Southern Italy. The first chapter discusses the terracotta architectural reliefs from Serra di Vaglio, the second, the bronze shieldband and belt from Noicattaro, and the third, the terracotta perirrhanterion from Incoronata.;While Sicily and Etruria provide examples of Corinthian and Corinthianizing art, they cannot equal the quantity and quality of the material from Southern Italy. In Southern Italy, it is possible to define an area along the southeastern coast and extending into the interior which is quite unique for its absorption and use of Corinthian art.